Sam Vallen (Caligula’s Horse) belongs to a rare breed of guitarists that are clearly technically excellent yet still manage to convey a large dose of heart and soul. His melodies are sublime, his control is incredible and he just makes it all look so easy. As an eager student of music history, his influences are diverse and it shows in his debut solo single Flicker, a six minute, twenty eight second instrumental piece which showcases all of the facets of his playing.
Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips caught up with Sam Vallen over a zoom to discuss the single, his influences and the next moves for his main band, Caligula’s Horse.
MORE ABOUT SAM VALLEN
Sam Vallen entered the international music scene on the back of Caligula’s Horse’s debut album, ‘Moments from Ephemeral City’ in 2011. From those humble origins to the world stage, Vallen has established an internationally celebrated career as a guitarist, songwriter, and producer.
With Caligula’s Horse, Vallen has released five critically acclaimed records, and toured the world with heavyweights like Mastodon, Opeth, Tesseract and others. Now while Caligula’s Horse quietly work on the follow up to 2020’s ‘Rise Radiant’, Vallen is set to release a one-off single, ‘Flicker’, his first solo offering after a decade at the Caligula’s Horse Helm.
‘Flicker’ will not be immediately followed by a solo album, but it embodies a style Vallen intends to pursue in the future alongside his work with Caligula’s Horse.
The release of Flicker includes additional goodies including Stems, Tabs, this, that available via Bandcamp.